GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

OVERVIEW OF THE MODULE

Purpose of the Module

You are officially enrolled in GEC 7 (Arts Appreciation) for the Second
Semester of the S.Y. 2021-2022. This module is for Gec 7 (Arts Appreciation) a
required General Education Course for all college students. This course module will
serve as your guide towards deeper understanding in Art Appreciation. It contains
broad series of lessons and activities that will offer you a variety of modalities for your
ultimate engagement and effective retention of each lesson. As an official Gec 7
student you should have your own copy of this course module and give your outmost
artistry for you to complete this course.

Module Title and Description

This is a course module for GEC 7 (Art Appreciation). It focuses on

discussions and activities about the different assumptions regarding on Introduction
to Art Appreciation as well as the different functions and Philosophical Perspective on
Art.

This course module is purposeful in developing students’ ability to appreciate,

analyze, and critique works of art. Through interdisciplinary and multimodal
approaches, this course module equips students with a broad knowledge of the
practical, historical, philosophical, and social relevance of the arts in order to hone
students’ ability to articulate their understanding of the arts. The course also
develops students’ genuine appreciation for Philippine arts by providing them
opportunities to explore the diversity and richness and their rootedness in Filipino
culture.

Source: https://ched.gov.ph/sample-suggested-syllabi-newgeneral-education-gec-
core-courses/

Module Guide

Packet 1 of the course module focuses on the discussions and activities of

Chapter 1 (Introduction of Art Appreciation) with the following topics:
Chapter 1: What is Art: Introduction and Assumptions
Chapter 2: Art Appreciation: Creativity, Imagination, and Expression
Chapter 3: Functions and Philosophical Perspectives on Art
Chapter 4: Subject, Content, Artists and Artisans.
Chapter 5: Artist and Artisans
Chapter 6: Elements and Principles of Arts.
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

Module Outcomes
This course module will enable you to demonstrate an understanding and
appreciation of arts in general, including their function, value, and historical
significance. Define and demonstrate the elements and principles of design. Explain
and evaluate different theories of art. Analyze and appraise works of art based on
aesthetic value, historical context, tradition, and social relevance. Mount an art
exhibit (concept development, production and postproduction, marketing,
documentation, critiquing). Create their own works of art and curate their own
production or exhibit. Utilize art for self-expression and for promoting advocacies.
Deepen their sensitivity to self, community, and society. Discover and deepen their
identity through art with respect to their nationality, culture, and religion. Develop an
appreciation of the local arts.

Module Requirements

The following requirements are prepared in the course module:

 Course Pretest
 Written Works
 Performance Task
 Course Posttest
 Term Exam
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

KEY TERMS

 Humanities - emphasize analysis and exchange of ideas rather than the

creative expression of the arts or the quantitative explanation of the sciences.
 Arts - is a highly diverse range of human activities engaged in creating visual,
auditory, or performed artifacts— artworks—that express the author’s
imaginative or technical skill, and are intended to be appreciated for their
beauty or emotional power.
 Nature- the phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants,
animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as
opposed to humans or human creations.
 Creativity - the ability to transcend traditional ideas, rules, patterns,
relationships, or the like, and to create meaningful new ideas, forms,
methods, interpretations, etc.; originality, progressiveness, or imagination
 Principles - is a general belief that you have about the way you
should behave, which influences your behavior.
 Perspective - particular way of thinking about something, especially one that
is influenced by your beliefs or experiences.
 Experience - to think about a situation or problem in a wise
and reasonable way
 Expression - is the showing of them through words, actions,
or artistic activities
 Assumptions - an idea that is formed without evidence
 Contemporary - Things that are contemporary are either happening at the
same time or happening now. 
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

LEARNING PLAN

Chapter 1
What is Art: Introduction and
Assumptions

Activating Student’s
Schemata

Art is something that is perennially around us. Some people may deny having
to do with the arts but it is indisputable that life presents us with many forms of and
opportunities for communion with the arts. A bank manager choosing what tie to wear
together with his shirt and shoes, a politician shuffling her music track while
comfortably seated on her car looking for her favorite song, a student marveling at
the intricate designs of a medieval cathedral during his field trip, and a market vendor
cheering for her bet in a dance competition on a noontime TV program all manifest
concern for values that are undeniably, despite tangentially, artistic.
Despite the seemingly overflowing instances of arts around people, one still
finds the need to see more and experience more, whether consciously or
unconsciously. One whose exposure to music is only limited to one genre finds it
lacking not to have been exposed to more. One, whose idea of a cathedral is limited
to the locally available ones, finds enormous joy in seeing other prototypes in
Europe. Plato had the sharpest foresight when he discussed in the Symposium that
beauty, the object of any love, truly progresses. As one moves through life, one
locates better, more beautiful objects of desire (Scott, 2000). One can never be
totally content with what is just before him. Human beings are drawn toward what is
good and ultimately, beautiful.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. understand the role of humanities and arts in man’s attempt at fully

realizing his end;
2. clarify misconceptions the art;
3. characterize the assumptions of arts; and
4. engage better with personal experiences of and in art.
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

Let’s Get Started!

This is your first ever activity in this course. This activity is intended for you to
identify your daily experiences with art, you can write your experiences as many as
you can.

Activity 1

Name: _______________________________ Date Submitted: ________________

Program/Yr./Section: _____________________________________

Instruction: In the first column of the table below, list down your most striking
encounters with arts. On the second column, explain why you think each encounter is
an experience with art. (50 pts)

My Encounter with Arts Why?

 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

Analysis

Those experiences that you wrote on the last page will be used for you to fully
understand the content of this chapter. As a GEC 7 student, your encounter with arts
will serve as your stepping stone to go deeper in this chapter and reflect whether art
has done something bigger in your life.

Abstraction

Topic 1:
Why study the Humanities?

For as long as man existed in

this planet, he has cultivated the
land, altered the conditions of the
fauna and the flora, in order to
survive. Alongside these necessities,
man also marked his place in the
world through his works. Through his
bare hands, man constructed
infrastructures that tended to his
needs, like his house. He sharpened
swords and spears. He employed fire
in order to melt gold. The initial Figure 1. Cave Painting from pinterest.com
meaning of the word “art” has
something to do with all these craft.

The word “art” comes from the ancient Latin, ars which means a “craft or
specialized form of skill, like carpentry or smithying or surgery” (Collingwood, 1938).
Art then suggested the capacity to produce an intended result from carefully planned
steps or method. When a man to build a house, he plans meticulously to get to what
the prototype promises and he executes the steps to produce the said structure, then
he is engaged in art. The Ancient World did not have any conceived notion of art in
the same way that we do now. To them, art only meant using the bare hands to
produce something that will be useful to one’s day-to-day life.

Ars in Medieval Latin came to mean something different. It meant “any special
form of book-learning, such as grammar or logic, magic or astrology” (Collingwood,
1938). It was only during the Renaissance Period that the word reacquired a
meaning that was inherent in its ancient form of craft. Early Renaissance artists saw
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

their activities merely as craftsmanship, devoid of a whole lot of intonations that are
attached to the word now. It was during the seventeenth century when the problem
and idea of aesthetic, the study of beauty, began to unfold distinctly from the notion
of technical workmanship, which was the original conception of the word “art.” It was
finally in the eighteenth century when the word has evolved to distinguish between
the fine arts and the useful arts. The fine arts would come to mean “not delicate or
highly skilled arts, but ‘beautiful’ arts” (Collingwood, 1938). This is something more
akin to what is now considered art.

“The humanities constitute one of the oldest and most important means of
expression developed by man” (Dudley et al., 1960). Human history has witnessed
how man evolved not just physically but also culturally, from cave painters to men of
exquisite paintbrush users of the present. Even if one goes back to the time before
written records of man’s civilization has appeared, he can find cases of man’s
attempt of not just crafting tools to live and survive but also expressing his feelings
and thoughts. The Galloping Wild Boar found in the cave of Altamira, Spain is one
such example. In 1879, a Spaniard and his daughter were exploring a cave when
they saw pictures of a wild boar, hind, and bison. According to experts, these
paintings were purported to belong to Upper Paleolithic Age, several thousands of
years before the current era. Pre-historic men, with their crude instruments, already
showcased and manifested earliest attempts at recording man’s innermost interests,
preoccupations, and thoughts. The humanities, then, ironically, have started even
before the term has been coined. Human persons have long been exercising what it
means to be a human long before he was even aware of his being one. The
humanities stand tall in bearing witness to this magnificent phenomenon. Any human
person, then, is tasked to participate, if not, totally partake in this long tradition of
humanizing himself.

Topic 2:
Art is Universal

Literature has provided key works of art. Among the most popular ones being
taught in school are the two Greek epics, the Iliad and the Odyssey. The Sanskrit
pieces Mahabharata and Ramayana are also staples in this field. These works,
purportedly written before the beginning of recorded history, are believed to be man’s
attempt at recording stories and tales that have been passed on, known, and sung
throughout the years. Art has always been timeless and universal, spanning
generations and continents through and through.

In every country and in every generation, there is always art. Oftentimes,

people feel that what is considered artistic are only those which have been made
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long time ago. This is a misconception. Age is not factor in determining art. An “…art
is not good because it is old, but old because it is good” (Dudley et al., 1960).

In the Philippines, the works of Jose Rizal and Francisco Balagtas are not
being read because they are old. Otherwise, works of other Filipinos who have long
died would have been required in junior high school too. The pieces mentioned are
read in school and have remained to be with us because they are good. They are
liked and adored because they meet our needs and desires. Florante at Laura never
fails to teach high schools students the beauty of love, one that is universal and pure.
Ibong Adarna, another Filipino masterpiece, has always captured the imagination of
the young with its timeless lessons. When we recite the Psalms, we feel in
communion with King David as we feel one with him in his conversation with God.
When we listen to a kundiman or perform folk dances, we still
enjoy the way our Filipino ancestors whiled away their time in
the past. We do not necessarily like a kundiman for its
original meaning. We just like it. We enjoy it. Or just as one of
the characters in the movie Bar Boys thought, kundiman
makes one concentrate better.

The first assumption the about the humanities is that

art has been crafted by all people regardless or origin, time,
place, and that it stayed on because it is liked and enjoyed by
people continuously. A great piece of work will never be
obsolete. Some people say that art is art for its intrinsic worth.
In John Stuart Mill’s Utilitarianism (1879), enjoyment in the
Figure 2. Ibong Adarna
arts belongs to a higher good, one that lies at the opposite end of
base pleasures. Art will always present because human beings will always express
themselves and delight in these expressions. Men will continue to use art while art
persists and never gets depleted.

Topic 3:
Art is not nature

In the Philippines, it is not entirely novel to hear some consumers of local

movies remark that these movies produced locally are unrealistic. They contend that
local movies work around certain formula to the detriment of substance and
faithfulness to reality of the movies. These critical minds argue that a good movie
must reflect reality as closely as possible. Is that so?

Paul Cezanne, a French painter, painted a scene from realty entitled Well and
Grinding Wheel in the Forest of the Chateau Noir. The said scene is inspired by a
real scene in a forest around the Chateau Noir area near Aix in Cezanne’s native
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

Provence. Comparing the two, one can see that Cezanne’s landscape is quite
different from the original scene. Cezanne has changed some patterns and details
from the way they were actually in the photograph. What he did is not nature. It is art.

One important characteristic of art is that it is not nature. Art is man’s

expression of his reception of nature. Art is man’s way of interpreting nature. Art is
not nature. Art is made by man, whereas nature is a given around us. It is in this
juncture that they be can be considered opposites. What we find in nature should not
be expected to be present in art too. Movies are not meant to be direct
representation of reality. They may, according to the moviemaker’s perception of
reality, be a reinterpretation or even distortion of nature.

This distinction assumes that all of us

see nature, perceive its elements in myriad,
different, yet ultimately valid ways. One can
only imagine the story of the five blind men
who one day argue against each other on
what an elephant looks like. Each of the five
blind men was holding a different part of the
elephant. The first was touching the body and Figure 3. The Elephant and the Blind
thus, though the elephant was like a wall. Men
Another was touching the beast’s ear and was convinced that the elephant was like a
fan. The rest were touching other different parts of the elephant and concluded
differently based on their perceptions. Art is like each of these men’s view of the
elephant. It is based on an individual’s subjective experience of nature. It is not
meant, after all, to accurately define what the elephant is really like in nature. Artists
are not expected to duplicate nature just as even scientist with their elaborate
laboratories cannot make nature.

Once this point has been made, a student of humanities can then ask further
questions such as: What reasons might the artist have in creating something? Why
did Andres Bonifacio write “Pag-ibig sa Tinubuang Lupa”? What motivations did Juan
Luna have in creating his masterpiece, the Spoliarium? In whatever work of art, one
should always ask why the artist made it. What is it that he wants to show?

Topic 4:
Art involves experience.

Getting this far without a satisfactory definition of art can be quite weird for
some. For most people, art does not require a full definition. Art is just experience. By
experience, we mean the “actual doing of something” (Dudley et al., 1960). When
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

one says that he has an experience of something, he often means that he knows
what that something is about. When one claims that he has experienced falling in
love, getting hurt, and bouncing back, he in effect claims that he knows the
(sometimes) endless cycle of loving. When one asserts having experienced
preparing a particular recipe, he in fact asserts knowing how the recipe is made.
Knowing a thing is different from hearing from others what the said thing is. A radio
DJ dispensing advice on love when he himself has not experienced it does not really
know what he is talking about. A choreographer who cannot execute a dance step
himself is a bogus. Art is always an experience.

Unlike fields of knowledge that involve data, art is known by experiencing. A painter
cannot claim to know how to paint if he has not tried holding a brush. A sculptor
cannot produce a work of art if a chisel is foreign to him. Dudley et al. (1960) affirmed
that “[a]ll art depends on experience, and if one is to know art, he must know it not as
fact or information but as experience.”

A work of art then cannot be abstracted from actual doing. In order to know
what an artwork is, we have to sense it, see or hear it, and see and hear it. To fully
appreciate our national hero’s monument, one must go to Rizal Park and see the
actual sculpture. In order to know Beyonce’s music, one must listen to it to actually
experience them.

A famous story about someone who adores Picasso goes something like this;
“Years ago, Gertrude Stein was asked why she bought the pictures of the then
unknown artist Picasso. ‘I like to look at them,’ said Miss Stein” (Dudley et al., 1960).
At the end of the day, one fully gets acquainted with art if one immerses himself into
it. In the case of Picasso, one only learns about Picasso’s work by looking at it. That
is precisely what Miss Stein did.
In matters of art, the subject’s perception is of
primacy. One can read hundreds of reviews about a
particular movie, but at the end of the day, until he sees
the movie himself, he will be in no position to actually talk
about the movie. He does not know the movie until he
experiences it. An important aspect of experiencing art is
its being highly personal, individual, and subjective. In
philosophical terms, perception of art is always a value
judgement. It depends on who the perceiver is, his tastes,
his biases, and what he has inside him. Degustibus non
disputandum est (Matters of taste are not matters of
dispute). One cannot argue with another person’s
evaluation of art because one’s experiences can never
be known by another. Figure 4. Pablo Picasso

Finally, one should also underscore that every experience with art is
accompanied by some emotion. One either likes or dislikes, agrees or disagrees that
a work of art is beautiful. A stage play or motion picture is particularly one of those art
forms that evoke strong emotions from its audience. With experience comes
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

emotions and feelings, after all. Feelings and emotions are concrete proofs that the
artwork has been experiences.

LEARNING PLAN

Chapter 2:
Creativity,
Imagination, and
Expression

Activating Student’s Schemata

It takes an artist to make art. One may perceive beauty on a daily basis.
However, not every beautiful thing that can be seen or experienced may truly be
called a work of art. Art is a product of man’s creativity, imagination, and expression.
No matter how perfectly blended the colors of a sunset are and no matter how
extraordinarily formed mountains are, nature is not considered art simply because it
is not made by man. Not even photographs or sketches of nature, though captured or
drawn by man, are works of art, but mere recordings of the beauty in nature (Collins
& Riley, 1931). An artwork may be inspired by nature or other works of art, but an
artist invents his own forms and patterns due to what he perceives as beautiful and
incorporates them in creating his masterpiece.
Perhaps not everyone can be considered an artist, but surely, all are
spectators of art. In deciding what pair of shoes to buy, we carefully examine all
possible choices within our budget and purchase the one that satisfies our beauty
and practical standards. We are able to distinguish what is fine and beautiful from
what is not and what is good quality from poor. This gives us a role in the field of art
appreciation.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

1. differentiate art from nature;

2. characterize artistic expression based on personal experiences with art;
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

3. discuss the nature of art’s preliminary expression; and

4. categorize works by art by citing personal experiences.

Abstraction

Topic 1
Art Appreciation as a
way of life

Jean-Paul Sartre, a famous French philosopher of the twentieth century,

described the role of art as a creative work that depicts the world in a completely
different light and perspective, and the source is due to human freedom (Green,
1995). Each artwork beholds beauty of its own kind, the kind that the artist sees and
wants the viewers to perceive. More often than not, people are blind to this beauty
and only those who have developed a fine sense of appreciation can experience and
see the art the same way the artist did. Because e of this, numerous artworks go
unnoticed, artists are not given enough credit, and they miss opportunities. It
sometimes takes a lifetime before their contribution to the development of art is
recognized. Hence, refining one’s ability to appreciate art allows him to deeply
understand the purpose of an artwork and recognize the beauty it possesses (Collins
& Riley, 1931).

In cultivating an appreciation of art, one should also exercise and develop his
taste for things that are fine and beautiful. This allows individuals to make intelligent
choices and decisions in acquiring necessities and luxuries, knowing what gives
better value for time or money while taking into consideration the aesthetic and
practical value (Collins & Riley, 1931). This continuous demand for aesthetically
valuable things influences the development and evolution of art and its forms.

Frequenting museums, art galleries, performing arts theaters, concert halls, or

even malls that display art exhibitions that are free in admission during leisure time
will not only develop an understanding of the art, but will also serve as a rewarding
experience. Learning to appreciate art, no matter what vocation or profession you
have, will lead to a fuller and more meaningful life (Collins & Riley, 1931).
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

Topic 2
The Role of Creativity in Art
Making

Creativity requires thinking outside the box. It is often used to solve problems
that have never occurred before, conflate function and style, and simply make life a
more unique and enjoyable experience. In art, creativity is what sets apart one
artwork from another. We say something is done creatively when we have not yet
seen anything like it or when it is out of the ordinary. A creative artist does not simply
copy or imitate another artist’s work. He does not imitate the lines, flaws, colors, and
patterns in recreating nature.
He embraces originality, puts his own flavor into his work, and calls it his own
creative piece.

Yet, being creative nowadays can be quite challenging. What you thought
was your own unique and creative idea may not what it seems to be after extensive
research and that someone else has coincidentally devised before the idea in
another part of the world. For instance, the campaign as “It’s More Fun in the
Philippines” used by the Department of Tourism (DOT) boomed popularity in 2011,
but later on it was found out that it was allegedly plagiarized from Switzerland’s
tourism slogan “It’s More Fun in
Switzerland,” back in 1951. In DOT’s defense, former DOT Secretary Ramon
Jimenez Jr. claimed that it was “purely coincidentally.” Thus, creativity should be
backed with careful research on
related art to avoid such conflicts.
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

Figure 5. “It’s More Fun in the Philippines”

by The Misadventures of Maja

Topic 3
Art as a Production of Imagination,
Imagination as a Product of Art

Where do you think famous writers,

painters, and musicians get their ideas? Where do
ideas in making creative solutions begin? It all
starts in the human mind. It all begins with
imagination.

German physicist Albert Einstein who had

made significant and major contributions in
science and humanity demonstrated that
knowledge is actually derived from imagination.
He emphasized this idea through his words.

Figure 6. Bob Wierdsma,

“Imagination is more important than
knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now Imagination
know and understand, while imagination embraces the entire world, and all there
ever will be to know and understand.”

Imagination is not constrained by the walls of the norm, but goes beyond that.
That is why people rely on curiosity and imagination for advancement. Through
imagination, one is able to craft something bold, something new, and something
better in the hopes of creating something that will stimulate change. Imagination
allows endless possibilities.

In an artist’s mind sits a vast gallery of artworks. An artwork does not need to
be a real thing, but can be something that is imaginary (Collingwood, 1938). Take for
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

example a musician who thinks of a tune in his head. The making of this tune in his
head makes it an imaginary tune, an imaginative creation, an imaginary art
(Collingwood, 1938). It remains imaginary until he hums, sings, or writes down the
notes of the tune on paper. However, something imaginary does not necessarily
mean it cannot be called art. Artists use their imagination that gives birth to reality
through creation.

In the same way that imagination produces

art, art also inspires imagination. Imagine being in
an empty room surrounded by blank, white walls,
and floor. Would you be inspired to work in such a
place? Often, you will find coffee shops,
restaurants, and libraries with paintings hung or
sculptures and other pieces of art placed around
the room to add beauty to the surroundings. This
craving and desire to be surrounded by beautiful Figure 7. Thomas Quine, “Cave
things dates back to our early ancestors (Collins & Paintings
Riley, 1931). Cave walls are surrounded by
drawings and paintings of animals they hunted: wild boars, reindeers, and bison
(Figure 7). Clays were molded and stones were carved into forms that resemble men
and women; burial jars were created with intricate designs on them. These creative
pieces were made not only because they were functional to men, but also because
beauty gave them joy (Collins & Riley, 1931).

Topic 4
Art as Expression

There may have been times when you felt something is going on within you,
you try to explain it but you do not know how. You may only be conscious about
feeling this sort of excitement, fear, or agitation, but you know that just one word is
not enough to describe the nature of what you truly feel. Finally, you try to release
from this tormenting and disabling state by doing something, which is called
expressing oneself (Collingwood, 1938). Suppose this feeling is excitement. It is
frustrating to contain such feeling, so you relieve it by expressing through shouting or
leaping in excitement. An emotion will remain unknown to a man until he expresses
it.

Robin George Collingwood, an English philosopher who is best known for his
work in aesthetics, explicated in his publication The Principles of Art (1938) that what
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

an artist does to an emotion is not to induce it, but express it. Through expression, he
is able to explore his own emotions at the same time, create something beautiful out
of them. Collingwood further illustrated that expressing emotions is something
different from describing emotions. In his example, explicitly saying “I am angry” is
not an expression of an emotion, but a mere description. There is no need in relating
or referring to a specific emotion, such as anger, in expressing one’s emotion.
Description actually destroys the idea of expression, as it classifies the emotion,
making it ordinary and predictable. Expression, on the other hand, individualizes. An
artist has the freedom to express himself the way he wants to. Hence, there is no
specific technique in expression. This makes people’s art not a reflection of what is
outside or external to them, but a reflection of their inner selves. There are countless
ways of expressing oneself through art. The following list includes, but is not limited
to, popular art expressions.

Visual Arts
Creations that fall under this category are those that
appeal to the sense of sight and are mainly visual in nature.
Artists produce visual arts driven by their desire to
reproduce things that they have seen in the way that they
perceived them (Collins & Riley, 1931). We will not be too
strict on the definition since there are other artistic
disciplines that also involve a visual aspect, such as
performance arts, theater, and applied arts, that will be
discussed in detail later on. Visual arts are the kind of art
form that the population is most likely more exposed to, but
Figure 8. John La Farge,
its variations are so diverse – they range from sculptures
“Camellia in Old Chinese
that you see in art galleries to the last movie you saw. Some
Vase on Black Lacquer
mediums of visual arts include painting, drawings, letterings, printing, sculptures
Table”
digital
imaging, and more.

Film

Film refers to the art of putting together successions of still images in order to
create an illusion of movement. Filmmaking focuses on its aesthetic, cultural, and
social value and is considered as both an art and an industry. Films can be created
by using one or a combination of some or all of these techniques: motion-picture
camera (also known as movie camera), animation techniques, Computer-Generated
Imagery (CGI), and more. Filmmaking simulates experiences or creates one that is
beyond the scope of our imagination as it aims to deliver ideas, feelings, or beauty to
its viewers. The art of filmmaking is so complex it has to take into account many
important elements such as lightning, musical score, visual effects, direction, and
more.

Performance Art
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Performance art is a live art and the artist’s medium is mainly the human body
which he or she uses to perform, but also employs other kind of art such as visual
art, props, or sound. It usually consists of four important elements: time, where the
performance took place, the performer’s or performer’s body, and a relationship
between the audience and the performer(s) (Moma Learning, n.d.). The fact that
performance art is live makes it intangible, which means it cannot be bought or
traded as a commodity, unlike the previously discussed art expressions.
Figure 9. Performance Art
Poetry Performance

Poetry is an art form where the artist expresses his emotions not by using
paint, charcoal, or camera, but expresses them through words. These words are
carefully selected to exhibit clarity and beauty and to stimulates strong emotions of
joy, anger, love, sorrow, and the list goes on. It uses a word’s emotional, musical,
and spatial values that go beyond its literal meaning to narrate, emphasize, argue, or
convince. These words, combined with movements, tone, volume, and intensity of
the delivery, add to the artistic value of the poem. Some poets even make poems out
of their emotions picked up from other works of art, which in turn produce another
work of art through poetry.

Architecture

As discussed, art is the pursuit and creation

of beautiful things while architecture is the making
of beautiful buildings. However, not all buildings are
beautiful. Some buildings only embody the
functionality they need, but the structure, lines,
forms, and colors are not beautifully expressed.
Thus, not all buildings can be considered
architecture. Take, for example, the Grand Theatre
de Bordeaux (Figure 11) where the functionality of
the theater remains, but the striking balance of the
Figure 10. The Grand Theatre de
lines, colors, and shapes completes the
masterpiece. Building should embody these threes Bordeaux
important elements – plan, construction, and design – if they wish to merit the title
architecture (Collins & Riley, 1931).

Dance

Dance is a series of movements that follows the

rhythm of the music accompaniment. It has been an age-old
debate whether dance can really be considered an art form,
but here we primarily describe dance as a form of expression.
Dancing is a creative form that allows people to freely
express themselves. It has no rules. You may say that
choreography does not allow this, but in art expression,
dancers are not confines to set steps and rules but are free to
Figure 11. Olga
Spessiva in Swan Lake
Costume
 GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)

create ad invent their own movements as long as they deem them graceful and
beautiful.

Literary Art

Artist who practice literary arts use words – not

paint, musical instruments, or chisels – to express
themselves and communicate emotions to the readers.
However, simply becoming a writer does not make one a
literary artist. Simply constructing a succession of
sentences in a meaningful manner is not literary art.
Literary art goes beyond the usual professional,
academic, journalistic, and other technical forms of
writing. It focuses on writing using a unique style, not
following a specific format or norm. It may include both
fiction and non-fiction such as novels, biographies, and
poems. Examples of famous literary artists and their works includeFigure 12. William
The Little
Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery and Romeo and Juliet Shakespeare
by William Shakespeare.

Theater

Theater uses live performers to present accounts or

imaginary events before a live audience. Theater art
performances usually follow a script, though they should not
be confused with literary arts. Much like in filmmaking,
theater also considers several elements such as acting,
gesture, lightning, sound effects, musical score, scenery,
and props. The combination of these elements is what gives
the strongest impression on the audience and the script
thus becomes a minor element.

Figure 13. Macbeth

Applied Arts

Applied arts is incorporating elements of style and design to everyday items

with the aim of increasing their aesthetical value. Artists in this field bring, beauty,
charm, and comfort into many things that are useful in everyday life (Collins & Riley,
1931). Industrial design, interior design, fashion design, and graphic design are
considered applied arts. Applied is often compared to fine arts, where the latter is
chiefly concerned on aesthetic value. Through exploration and expression of ideas,
consideration of the needs, and careful choice of materials and techniques, artist are
able to combine functionality and style.
GEC 7 (Art Appreciation)